Our House Hunt | The Wishlist

I’ve been a bit MIA, but I have a good excuse… We’ve started the exciting, terrifying, anxiety inducing process of buying a house!

This is huge for us… I feel like all I’ve talked about since we got married is buying a house, and now that it’s here, I’m not sure what to do with myself. The market that we are buying into is completely outrageous right now, and I’ve already had multiple homes that I was interested in touring sell within days of going on the market. I’m preparing myself for anything to happen, and holding out hope that the right thing will happen in time.

Being that this will be one of the biggest, most permanent purchases we will ever make, we are really honing in our list and trying our best to be realistic, while also prioritizing the things that will be really important.

Thus far this is what we are looking for…

A GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD | For us, this means in an established community that is close to shops, restaurants, and bars that we like, and a 30 minute or less commute to work. This is a priority for us, and also probably our biggest limiting factor. Neighborhoods like this in our city are very expensive to live in, and the likelihood that we will be able to find anything within our budget is slim. These neighborhoods can have tear-downs priced up to $600,000, which is unfortunately well out of our comfort zone!

Source unknown… If anyone knows, please share!

HISTORIC (LOOKING) HOME WITH CHARACTER | We love the idea of a historic home, and most of the neighborhoods we like have historic homes. It would be great to get something with some vintage architectural character, but we’re open to new architectural character (that looks vintage), too. It just has to be convincing…

OUTDOOR SPACE | This is left pretty open because we are pretty open about the meaning… The ideal situation? We would have a big front porch and a small to medium sized back yard, big enough for our pup to run around a bit. At the end of the day, though, the space and the ability to add a deck, porch, or patio is more important to us than actually having any of those spaces when we first move in.

SEMI-OPEN FLOOR PLAN | I know that everyone always raves about “open floor plans,” but I prefer a little more division. I’m not saying the plan needs to be choppy, or closed off, but I like the idea of having some separation between spaces while still maintaing flow.

2 PLUS BEDROOMS/2 PLUS BATHS | Most of our feelings about the number of bedrooms and baths has been flexible, but I will say that having family here of the holidays may have convinced us to seek out a little more space. We’re open to have 2 bedrooms if there is some kind of bonus space, like an office or a den.

A FIREPLACE | This is my frivolous request. I really, really want a working fireplace. It can be wood burning or gas, doesn’t matter much to me either way. I visited a friend in her new home this past fall, and sitting and chatting with her and her husband by the fire in the chilly fall weather was heaven. It’s a dream to be able to have that cozy feeling on our own future home.

A LITTLE WORK, BUT LIVABLE DAY ONE | While I would LOVE to do an entire renovation, it unfortunately not realistic that we could swing that in our price range. That being said, I don’t think that there exists a house out there in the world that I wouldn’t want to change something about. Since this is our first home, the kind of work that I would prefer to do is the fun kind… the kind that requires picking out finishes, not moving walls or replacing electrical. Right now, I’m happy to save that kind of work for the future when I have a bit more of a budget to work with. That being said, I have no fear of replacing cabinets, counters, floors, or adding backsplash. I can handle kitchen and bathroom renovations if the footprint is something that already works. And painting is pretty much a given. Basically, if it’s just cosmetic, I’m excited about it!

I plan to continue to share the process here, so if you have any questions, let me know in the comments!

Want to win a $20 Target gift card? Leave me a comment on this post sharing what you would like to see here in the new year! Each comment on my January posts (including this one!) will earn you an additional entry. A winner will be announced Wednesday, January 31st. Thanks for all of your support!

4 thoughts on “Our House Hunt | The Wishlist”

This has me SO EXCITED. I can’t wait for more updates on the process! And I am loving your posts, lady. They’re thoughtful and beautiful. As for what else I’d love to see: mantel styling ideas and maybe some alternatives to built-ins around the fireplace. We have so much blank wall space around ours and need a somewhat budget-friendly design solution.

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Welcome to Schafer Rea Studio, a blog about art, interiors, and design. I’m an interior designer by day, and a blogger by night. I’m also a wife, a dog mom, a (big) fan of Law and Order SVU and House Hunters, an amateur painter, a compulsive list-maker, and I’m SO glad you are here!

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